


Kyle's Revenge

by Hucklebarry



Category: The A-Team (TV)
Genre: Adoption, Father-Son Relationship, Medical Procedures, Non-Graphic Violence, Revenge
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-27
Updated: 2018-09-19
Packaged: 2019-07-03 11:04:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 15,027
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15817593
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hucklebarry/pseuds/Hucklebarry
Summary: When Face's girlfriend mysteriously goes missing, he knows something is terribly wrong. He goes to Hannibal for help, but he believes it was nothing. But when Douglas Kyle comes lurking around the corner, will they be able to escape his clutches?





	1. Disappearing Act

It was a nice night in September. Face was attending a high society party full of fashion designers and other high-class people. That’s where he met Amanda Bennett. She was a brunette with blue-grey eyes and a brilliant smile. Face was an excellent judge of character and noticed how she was always sincere whenever she talked. They had bonded instantly, sharing the same interests.

 

“Well, hello,” Face charmed as he revealed his million dollar smile to the lady in front of him.

 

“And what’s your name?” she asked.

 

“Templeton Smith. Yours?”

 

“Amanda Bennett,” she replied as she sipped her wine.

 

“You’re very beautiful, Amanda,” Face flirted, putting his hand on hers.

 

“I hardly even know you!” she laughed.

 

“We can fix that,” he suggested.

 

“Sure,” she gave in. Knowing this man was persistent and very handsome.

 

The two spent the rest of the night talking. Face even drove her home in his ‘Vette. That’s when he found out how much she loved sports cars. This made him decide to give her a good time by opening the ceiling of the car to reveal the full night sky and drove her home on the empty road twenty miles over the speed limit. When you’re a wanted fugitive on the lam, you learn to drive at top speed with grace. He just hoped that Hannibal wouldn’t find out about his little misdemeanor.

 

The first two months of their relationship flew by. They had grown to love and trust each other completely. They had scheduled a date at a fancy restaurant to celebrate. But she never showed up. Face immediately knew something was wrong, he knew how much Amanda believed in punctuality. He went to her apartment to check on her, but it was completely empty as if she had disappeared off the face of the earth. Now he knew something was terribly wrong. _‘I need to find Dad,’_ he thought. He knew his adoptive father, Hannibal Smith, would know what to do. He drove home to the house they were sharing and confronted him.

 

“Tem, I’m sure she was just busy that night and forgot,” Hannibal explained, trying in vain to get his son to see reason.

 

“Dad, I know her, she wouldn’t just forget!”

 

“Everyone forgets sometimes. Remember when you forgot to meet me on that one mission and I had to find a way out of that place alone, with guard dogs and men with AR-15’s on my tail?” Hannibal reasoned.

 

“Do you have to mention that!” Face huffed, dejectedly, could his father not see what he was trying to say?

 

“It’s perfectly valid,” Hannibal insisted with a cigar in his mouth.

 

“Can you just come to check out her apartment and see if anything’s wrong?” Face pleaded.

 

“If I find nothing, will you drop this issue?” Hannibal sighed.  

 

“Yes!”

 

“Alright, let’s go,” Hannibal declared as he slipped his black gloves on and walked outside to get in the passenger side of the Corvette.

 

The ride to Amanda Bennett’s apartment was completely silent, father and son lost in their own thoughts.

 

 _‘Why doesn’t he ever listen to me? It’s like he doesn’t even think my thoughts matter anymore! Is he getting tired of being my father?’_ Face sulked.

 

 _‘Tem has been more distant lately. Sure, I’ve been tougher on him lately. I just don’t want to see him get hurt in the field, in our line of work it’s important to always be on our feet. Could it be that I’m being too hard on him?’_ Hannibal mused. He could notice his son’s knuckle-white grip on the wheel. He put a hand on his shoulder to make him relax, but he just became even tenser. ‘ _That’s not like my son at all! Something is definitely wrong,’_ he thought.

 

They arrived at the apartment building not soon enough, each man desperate to get out of the tense environment of the confined vehicle.

 

“She lives near the top of the building,” Face informed.

 

When they walked into the lobby, Hannibal noticed his son’s long strides. He knew that was his son’s tell when he was mad. He almost had to jog to catch up with him.

 

If you thought the tenseness was bad in the Corvette, just try to imagine how bad it was in the elevator they had to ride to reach the apartment. It was so terrible they felt like they were suffocating. It felt like a blessing when they heard the _ding_ and the sliding doors opened.

 

Face immediately returned to his habit of walking with long strides until they reached Amanda Bennett’s apartment. “We’re here,” he said with his jaw clenched. _‘I’ve about had it with him never listening to me when I know when something is wrong! It’s just like when I received Leslie’s ring.’_

 

They opened the apartment door and briskly walked in. A quick look told Hannibal there was nothing out of the ordinary, “See, Son, I told you nothing was wrong. There’s no evidence here that something happened to her,” Hannibal confirmed.

 

“We’ve only been here thirty seconds, I think we should take a more throughout look of the place,” Face offered.

 

“Kid, what’s been going on with you lately? Accept it, Face, there’s nothing here!” Hannibal said, trying to lower his voice.

 

“Why can’t you just take my word for it when I say something’s wrong?”

 

“Because there _is_ nothing wrong!” _‘This kid can’t see reason for the life of him.’_

 

“Just because I’m a conman doesn’t mean I lie all the time,” Face accused, glaring at Hannibal. The unspoken words screaming at Hannibal that his son was hurting.

 

“Lieutenant, don’t forget I’m still your Colonel,” Hannibal warned, immediately regretting the choice of words. He wanted Face to know he meant much more to him than just being his Lieutenant. Before he could justify himself, Face lashed out.

 

“You don’t care about me! Just admit it. You only care if I can find the items to make your plan run smoothly, otherwise I’m useless,” he retorted.

 

“Don’t go there, Kid, you know I care about you,” Hannibal barked. All attempts of holding his temper were now futile.

 

“Just stop-” their thoughts were cut short as a gunshot erupted in the air.

 

“I have to admit, catching you was easier than I originally thought,” Major Douglas Kyle evilly smirked.

 

“Kyle,” Hannibal growled in disgust.

 

“What have you done with Amanda?” Face shouted.

 

“She’s a little tied up right now,” Kyle grinned.

 

“If you hurt her I swear, Kyle, I will kill you!” Face threatened.

 

 _‘What have I done? Tem was right. Now I just have to get us out of the mess I created,’_ Hannibal thought guiltily. Hannibal’s mind went into overdrive as he contemplated on what to do in this situation, _‘When we get to the elevator, maybe Tem and I can overpower him and push him in while we find an alternate route out.’_

 

“Would you be so kind as to put your hands out for me,” Kyle ordered. When they obeyed, he cuffed their hands together.

 

Hannibal was the last person Face would want to be cuffed to right now, he would rather be attached to B.A.

 

“Now, we are going down the elevator to get to my car. If you make so much a noise to alert anybody, I will blow you and your son away.”

 

“How do you know Face is my son?” Hannibal snapped.

 

“Oh, Colonel, don’t be so naive. I’ve been watching your every move for weeks, listening in on conversations, and strategically planning my attack. I know everything,” Kyle tutted.

 

“What hole did they find you in!” Hannibal remarked with contempt.

 

“That’s the least of your worries, now,” he replied casually.

 

They were lead down the hall with a gun on their backs, unfortunately, Kyle made sure the weapon was not to be seen by anyone walking down the hall. With Hannibal and Face cuffed together, the Colonel’s plan went in the gutter. There was no way they would get out of this situation with two fists instead of four. They knew the battle had been lost when they were lead to the black van that was surrounded by three of Kyle’s toughest goons, all dressed in black. But Kyle hadn’t yet won the war.


	2. Trapped

Murdock walked into the kitchen humming a random tune and picked up the note on the counter. It said, “Tem and I have gone out. Will be back soon,” in Hannibal’s handwriting. “I guess I have a few hours to annoy B.A. alone!” he exclaimed. “I just have to make sure the angry mudsucker doesn’t kill me before they get back.”

“Who are you talkin’ to, fool?” B.A. walked in.

“No one. Hannibal left this note though,” Murdock showed it to B.A.

“Don’t even think about causin’ trouble while they’re gone. I’m going to work on ma’ van,” B.A. threatened. But with him, everything was usually a threat.

Murdock would not heed his warning as he snuck down to the garage and tiptoed behind the van that B.A. was working under. He saw B.A. reaching for the wrench and swiftly replaced it with a screwdriver.

“What the?”

It took all of Murdock’s might to keep him from snickering. B.A. soon found the wrench he was looking for. But when he reached for the screwdriver, Murdock replaced it with a hammer he grabbed from his toolbox.

“I’m sure I put the screwdriver here. I never even laid out the hammer.”

 

“Now who’s talking to himself!” Murdock teased as he revealed himself.

 

“Murdock! I told you not to touch ma’ stuff!” B.A. pulled himself out from under the van and before he could chase Murdock, he had already run out of the garage. “That fool’s lucky,” he muttered.

 

Meanwhile, Hannibal and Face were still riding in the back of Kyle’s van, heading to his lair. Face was staring forlornly out the side window. The awkward silence was still consuming the van and Hannibal had no doubt his son was still pissed about their earlier argument.

 

“Son…” Hannibal whispered as he tried to get his attention by tapping the back of his hand with his thumb.

 

“I’m not your son,” he shot back with more venom than intended. But he was still really mad so he didn’t care.

 

_ ‘Yep, I deserve that,’  _ he thought. He decided it was best to stay silent and kept the movement with his hand going so his son knew he wasn’t mad.

 

“Quiet back there!” one of Kyle’s goons shouted back at them.

 

Hannibal noticed how the van kept slipping into nowhere every second that passed by. The once lively Los Angeles that they knew turned into a humid, dense forest.  _ ‘Kyle must have found a secluded place to keep us in,’ _ he thought. They soon arrived at Kyle’s lair. What Hannibal saw made him gasp. It was a large abandoned warehouse but Kyle had greatly adapted it to fit his idea of a prison. There were guards everywhere holding AR-15’s. Everything was completely systematic. When one guard’s shift was over, he was immediately replaced by a new one. It made Hannibal almost scared to see what it was like on the inside.

 

The guards opened the garage to allow the van to come in. The van came to a stop inside and the sliding doors were shut. The guards then forcibly yanked the father and son out of the car and lead them to a room with guns held to their backs. Kyle walked to the front of them and opened a door to the room where Hannibal and Face would be held.

 

Murdock soon got bored of constantly picking on B.A. and settled on watching cartoons instead. He picked up the remote and kept flipping channels until he found  _ Woody Woodpecker. ‘I wish Facey were here to watch cartoons with me. I wonder where they are, anyway,’  _ he thought. It seemed odd to him that Hannibal or Face never said anything about leaving, it wasn’t like them. And they had been gone for a while.  _ ‘Shouldn’t they have checked in by now?’  _ he pondered.

 

B.A., on the other hand, wasn’t worrying at all. He was just contently tinkering on his van and happy that Murdock had stopped bugging him. That is until Murdock showed up from behind the door and asked if they should be worried. Then it occurred to him, they had been gone for six hours without so much as a phone call! “If they don’t call us within the hour, we start lookin’ for them ourselves,” B.A. asserted.

 

Murdock and B.A. sat together next to the phone, impatiently waiting for it to ring. The minutes ticked off slowly. Murdock had turned off the TV since he was too nervous to watch anything, anyway.

 

The hour passed and B.A. and Murdock were about to go look for any clues to where their leader and second in command had disappeared to. A phone ring stopped them in their tracks. Murdock ran to the phone and hastily picked it up. “Hannibal, Face, is it you?”

 

“No, do you remember me, Captain?”

 

“What have you done to them, Kyle?” he barked.

 

“Nothing yet. That all depends on if you obey my orders.”

 

“What do you want?” Murdock sneered.

 

“I want you and the Sergeant to surrender to me.”

 

“You’re crazy! Why should I believe you? You’ll just kill us, too.”

 

“No, I want you to feel what it’s like to rot in jail. Just like I had to until I escaped.”

 

“What if I decide not to surrender to you?”

 

“I kill the Colonel and his son. I’ll greatly enjoy the look in his eyes when I murder his son right in front of him.”

 

“You have a deal. Just don’t hurt them!”

 

“Thank you for being so compliant, Captain,” Kyle smirked.

 

Murdock slammed down the receiver and relayed to B.A. what happened.

 

“You crazy fool! You want us to surrender to that man?”

 

“We will make him believe that’s what we’re doing.”

 

“This plan of yours better work. I hope you’re not on the jazz.”

 

“It will, you big angry mudsucker. I know just what to do.”


	3. Murdock's Plan

Kyle led Hannibal and Face into the room where they would be held with his henchmen leading from behind, making sure the father and son wouldn’t attempt to escape. 

The room was completely empty with no windows, just dull, grey walls. There was one lonely light dangling from the ceiling. The only accessories were four cuffs attached to one of the walls where Hannibal and Face’s arms would be attached too. There were no leg restraints, though.

 

“Uncuff them!” Kyle ordered his goons when the door closed behind them.

“That’s a lousy excuse for decor you have here,” Face taunted as the henchmen fumbled with the keys, taking off the cuffs.

 

Hannibal, however, wasn’t in a joking mood, “What do you want with us, Kyle?” he sneered.

 

“I want you to feel the hopelessness of being locked in a jail cell for all your days. Murdock and B.A. will be arriving soon to make sure I don’t kill the Lieutenant, here. I told them to surrender to me or face the consequences. They agreed to my proposal,” he snickered.

 

Hannibal knew that Murdock and B.A. would be coming to rescue them soon. But first, he and his son would have to get out of the newest restraints the henchmen were attaching to their arms. The question was how.

 

“Admit it, Hannibal, I’ve defeated your team once and for all,” he bragged as he laughed at the sight of the most dangerous mercenaries in LA attached to the wall, completely helpless.

 

“Burn in hell, Kyle!” Hannibal growled.

 

“I would refrain from taunting me, Colonel. This is what happens when you mock me,”  with no warning Kyle punched Face in the chest. Hanging by his arms Face could only gasp, trying to pull his legs up to his chest.

 

“What are you doing? We haven’t resisted you.” Hannibal asked calmly, but his eyes were blazed with wrath.

 

Now Kyle’s goons had joined in, Face was struggling to breathe under the unprovoked assault.

 

Hannibal flinched hearing a crunch. Face had suffered a cracked rib. 

 

“You too weak to take on a real man?” Hannibal taunted, trying to divert the beating to him.

 

Face locked eyes with his father. Hannibal got all the information he needed at that moment. Face wanted him to be quiet, and let the idiots only injure one of them. Face needed the Colonel to focus on a plan and not be distracted by his own broken bones.

 

His son’s eyes snapped shut as a particularly well-aimed fist embedded itself over the already damaged ribs. He hated to do it but Hannibal knew Face was right, he remained silent, trying not to shudder with each of Face’s grunts of pain. They mostly focused on punching him in the chest, aiming for the ribs. Face was sure he could hear a few cracking. 

 

Hannibal watched helplessly from the sidelines as the small grunts turned into moans and gasps, Face’s attempts to kick his attackers off useless. It wrenched his heart knowing he could do nothing to stop it. One slug to the face split his son’s lip and rendered him unconscious. “Stop!” Hannibal shouted as he saw his son go limp in his restraints.

 

“That’s enough,” Kyle ordered. He and his men then walked out of the room, closing the door behind them.

 

Hannibal was now left alone to wait for his son to regain consciousness. He was positioned right next to him, and if he tried hard enough, he could reach up and touch his hand. The last lines of a song replayed over and over in his mind like a broken record as he tried to formulate a plan.  _ Please don’t take my sunshine away.  _ He wished he was holding a cigar right now so he could clear his head and think of a plan. But his mind kept falling back to worrying if his son was okay. The memories flooded in of him and Face singing that song together whenever they had a mission together. Like when they were stuck on the plane after Murdock had snuck them the Morse code messages, or when they were distracting B.A. when they were about to knock him out. He just wished his son was awake to sing it with him.

 

Murdock and B.A. rode in the van in the night, with Murdock temporarily stealing Hannibal’s seat and picking a radio station.

 

“Turn that off, fool! I can’t concentrate,” B.A. fumed as Bohemian Rhapsody came blasting out of the radio.

 

Murdock was too busy trying to imitate Freddie Mercury to listen. Music always had a calming effect on him when things got crazier than usual. “Mama, just killed a man!” he shouted.

 

“You’re a tone-deaf crazy fool,” B.A. ranted.

 

“You wound me, B.A., this is my best singing,” Murdock contradicted.

 

“It’s just noise to me.”

 

Murdock suddenly had a serious look on his face and turned down the radio. “Park here, B.A. We can walk the rest of the way. We need to bring all of these,” Murdock pointed to several automatic weapons lying on the floor of the van.

 

“Why, there’s only two of us?”

 

“You’ll find out later, we need to find Hannibal and Face.”

 

They hiked for a couple of miles unspotted until they came upon the abandoned warehouse where Hannibal and Face were held.

 

“Alright, B.A., there’s only two of us. We need to make the allusion that there’s more. The way we will do that is place all of these weapons to surround the compound. Then, we will use a long string that we will thread through the part where the trigger is. I’ll be holding onto the string when we pretend to surrender to Kyle. We will then be his top priority and most of the guards will come out. That’s when I’ll pull the string and cause the guards to return fire. We will be able to get Hannibal and Face out with the distraction because they’ll be so focused on shooting at the enemies that aren’t even there,” Murdock explained.

 

“This is good, man,” B.A. complemented.

 

The two of them got to work and were soon ready to launch their attack on the unbeknownst Kyle and rescue their friends.

 

Hannibal had been waiting for thirty minutes when Face began to shift and moan in his bonds. “Kid, wake up,” Hannibal coaxed.

 

“Wh-what happened?” then it came back to him. Amanda, the fight, getting captured, everything, “Nevermind,” he groaned.

 

“Son, I’m sorry,” Hannibal started.

 

“And all it took for you to say that was us getting captured by Kyle,” Face snapped sarcastically and looked down resentfully.

 

Hannibal thought it was best to not retaliate and keep calm. It was his fault they were in this situation anyway. He glanced at his son and saw that his jaw was clenched and he was trying harder to breathe. His jaw was most likely clenched because he was still mad. But the breathing was something else. The kid needed a doctor to make sure his lungs were okay. Worst case scenario would be one of his lungs were punctured by his broken ribs. Hannibal knew if they were going to make a move it would have to be now, despite Face’s health.

 

He looked over at Face again and saw him trying to reach inside his sleeve, “What are you doing?”

 

“I always keep a lockpick in my sleeve,” he smiled despite the cut on his lip.

 

“Brilliant!”

 

Soon Face had retrieved the lockpick and started working on his bonds. After a few minutes of struggling because of the position his hand was in, they heard an audible click and the right arm restraint opened.

 

_ ‘What would I do without you, Kid?’  _ Hannibal thought.

 

With one of his arms free, he started working on the other bond and it clicked open in a matter of seconds. He then began to work on his father’s restraints until a wave of pain hit him in the chest. Face gasped and leaned on the wall for support. He was breathing rapidly now, trying to get air in.

 

“Kid, listen to me! You need to calm your breathing down, I’m sure you have some broken ribs and we can’t afford for one of them to puncture a lung,” Hannibal calmed.

 

Face’s breathing slowed as the pain subsided and he began working on Hannibal’s bonds again. Soon, he was freed as well. That’s when they heard footsteps walking down the hall. Hannibal positioned himself next to the door with Face beside him. A guard opened the door and was met by Hannibal grabbing him from behind and holding his mouth shut. Face then swiftly knocked him out and they ran out of the room. “We need to find Amanda!”

 

“Let’s go.” 

 

They started checking rooms until they found one that was locked with the sounds of a woman crying for help coming from inside. Hannibal busted down the door and stood guard while Face ran straight to Amanda, finding her tied down to a chair with a piece of cloth tied around her mouth. Face undid her restraints and she immediately went up to hug him.

 

“Temp, I thought I’d never see you again!” she cried out.

 

“It’s okay, but we have to go, It’s only a matter of time before Kyle comes looking for us,” Face reassured.

 

They ran out of the room and began looking for ways to escape.


	4. The Great Escape

It was near midnight now. The air was thick and rain was drizzling down as Murdock and B.A. silently trudged through the humid, damp forest, each one lost in their own thoughts. The thing that kept them going was the knowledge that they were probably Hannibal and Face’s only hope of escape. Murdock and B.A. casually approached the warehouse since they were supposed to come here anyway via Kyle’s directions with the string in the pilot’s hand. 

B.A. had easily been able to set up their contraption despite the darkness and Murdock was completely confident that their plan would work. 

 

The pilot caught the attention of one of the guards using a British accent saying, “I believe you were waiting for us, good sir.”

 

“Hey, sucka! Bring us our friends!” B.A. boomed.

 

The guard called for Kyle with his walkie-talkie, “They’re here, boss.”

 

“Keep an eye on them,” Kyle replied.

 

Murdock felt powerful as he held the clear line of string in his hands. It was the kind magicians use when they wanted to keep it hidden for a trick. He would pull the string any moment now. But first Hannibal and Face had to be brought out. He just had to hope they would be brought out soon.

 

Hannibal, Face, and Amanda silently snuck down the long corridor, searching for any means of escape. Face’s ribs were really aching right now. It had increased when Amanda had hugged him. But he had to be strong for her and the team’s sake and decided to hide any signs of discomfort.  _ ‘I can’t tell Dad how bad my ribs are hurting, he has enough to think about now with figuring out a plan.’ _

 

Hannibal was searching for anything he could use as a weapon. But Kyle had outdone himself, there was nothing around them, not even a fire extinguisher. Kyle knew how resourceful the team was, but Hannibal had underestimated him when it came to his knowledge of his team. Hannibal soon sighed and gave up his fervent search and his thoughts fell back to his son. He saw the slight grimace on his face and he could tell that Face’s ribs hurt much more than he was letting on.  _ ‘Why can’t the kid just tell me when something’s wrong? He knows I love him. I wish Tem would tell me when he’s hurting,’  _ he thought crossly.

 

Amanda just silently tagged along. She couldn’t stop wondering about why Kyle had decided to attack them. But she was thankful Kyle and his men didn’t hurt her. She was held in a very dark room. That’s all she knew because her eyes were covered with a blindfold the entire time she was stuck in that hell-hole. When Face had undone her blindfold, she was so eager to escape that she didn’t pay attention to her surroundings. The only thing she remembered was that the room was very small.  _ ‘While I was in his clutches he just wouldn’t shut up about this A-Team. I guess I’ll ask Temp about it when we escape from this place.’  _ Amanda knew little to nothing about The A-Team since she never watched the news. It was just too depressing for her.

 

They were brought from their thoughts when they heard footsteps coming down the hall. There was no place to hide so Hannibal had no choice but to try and take them down. The only problem was he didn’t know how much Face could take before he collapsed. The footsteps became louder and revealed three men. The first one was Kyle and the other two were guards. They both had a large build. The first one was wearing a leather jacket with jeans and the other one wore a red T-shirt with all his muscles on display. Hannibal recognized the guards as the ones who had taken part in hurting his son. 

 

On Kyle’s order, they began to attack Hannibal and Face. Hannibal was able to take down one of them but Face was struggling with the other one. When Hannibal came to help him out, the guard punched his son in the ribs and he collapsed. He slid down the wall and pulled his legs up to his chest to protect his ribs. Hannibal immediately let out all of his rage and punched the guard square in the face. The guard stumbled back and Hannibal used this opportunity to get him away from Face. He gave him a few jabs to the abdomen and the guard stepped back. He was now too far from Face to hurt him.

 

Amanda was currently hiding in a corner, hoping that her boyfriend would be okay. She heard Kyle calling for reinforcements with his walkie-talkie while Hannibal was busy taking the last guard down. This was her only chance, she rushed up to Kyle and they began a struggle for the walkie-talkie before he could finish his sentence. Now she had bought them some time. The fight soon got violent and Kyle pushed Amanda back but she still refused to let go. They both toppled to the ground and the walkie-talkie fell out of their grasps. Kyle jumped to get a hold on it but Amanda held him back. The struggle continued until Kyle finally pushed her off and finished his call for help.

 

The guards rushed in and immobilized the group. Hannibal tried to fend them off but there was too many of them. Face tried to fight back but he was too winded from the previous attack to be of much help. They soon were handcuffed together again and being led down the corridor with guns on their backs. Amanda had not been handcuffed but that didn’t give any more confidence in escaping.

 

“I’m surprised you tried to escape from me, Colonel. But cheer up, your friends are here,” Kyle snickered.

 

“Shut up, Kyle,” Hannibal snapped.

 

“What do you want with us, anyway?” Amanda asked.

 

“Your boyfriend and the Colonel are members of the infamous A-Team, sweetheart. They crossed me some time ago and will now pay for it.”

 

“Temp, you told me you were a manager for one of the patrons at the party?”

 

“If I told you I was part of The A-Team it would’ve put you in unnecessary danger,” Face explained.

 

The rest of the walk was in silence as they were lead to where Murdock and B.A. were outside. 

 

Murdock saw Hannibal and Face being lead outside with numerous guards following them. They were loaded into a van that had the back sealed off. The van was luckily out of the range of the automatic weapons they had placed.

 

Murdock was now ready to pull the string. He gave B.A. the signal that he was ready and pulled it.

 

Gunfire instantly erupted through the compound and the guards started shooting at their unknown targets. This gave B.A. the opportunity to open the van doors and let Hannibal, Face, and Amanda out. B.A. picked up one of the guns he laid out to cover them. Hannibal thought of picking up a gun as well, but having his dominant hand cuffed to his son’s deterred him. 

 

The team and Amanda then ran into the woods and soon became out of sight of Kyle and his men who were still fighting their unknown targets.

 

Hannibal and Face were running through the forest, trying to make sure Kyle couldn’t catch them. Murdock and B.A. trailed behind to cover them in case Kyle came. Face’s ribs were still hurting so he couldn’t run as fast, but he didn’t want to tell his father that. The thing about being handcuffed to another person is you have to run at the same speed or you both fall over. Hannibal and Face had a bit of trouble realizing that.

 

“Dad, can we slow down?” Face asked, out of breath.

 

“Sorry, Tem, we’re still too close to Kyle,” Hannibal replied, knowing his son was hurting.

 

“I don’t think I can go on much longer,” Face continued.

 

Hannibal was getting annoyed at this point and said something he would regret, “If you’d just been honest with me as to how bad your ribs were I wouldn’t have expected you to take that thug down, then my plan would’ve worked and Kyle wouldn’t be so close to us,” he said sarcastically. “All I want is some honesty Tem, your mistake could have cost all of us our lives,” seeing his son’s expression harden Hannibal realized he shouldn’t have said that.

 

“Oh, so this is my fault now! I recall you were the one who told Kyle to burn in hell and got us in this mess initially!”

 

“How was I supposed to know that nutcase would target you?” Hannibal yelled back.

 

Amanda ran behind them with her head swinging left and right as if watching a tennis game as the two men volleyed arguments at each other.

 

“Well, you could have used some common sense for once in your life instead of letting the jazz determine your next move!” Face shot back.

 

“Common sense, you say common sense. Don’t forget kid, I still remember the dimwitted, wet behind the ears boy who arrived in ‘Nam. You thought you were streetwise but had no idea what hell hole you’d walked into. If it hadn’t been for my team you would have been in a body bag, shipped home before your first week. That jazz saved your ass,  _ son _ ,” he spat.

 

Before Face could reply, Murdock got in between them, “Hannibal, Face, stop it! You’re both wasting time.”

 

B.A. grabbed both of them by the chain that connected the two cuffs and dragged them impatiently to a rock on the ground. “This will get you two fools to stop arguing,” he put the chain on top of the rock and grabbed another stone and landed it on top of the chain, breaking it.

 

Finally able to give each other some personal space, Hannibal and Face continued their trek into the woods, trading dirty looks.

 

Face avoided speaking to his father again by dropping back a step to run beside Amanda.

 

“How are you doing?” He asked breathlessly, the physical run not helping his sore ribs.

 

Amanda just looked at him, terror clearly visible, realizing she couldn’t speak Face caught her hand and squeezed it.

 

To everyone’s relief, they soon found their van. Hannibal let Amanda take his seat so he could assess his son’s injuries in the back. He hoped his son wasn’t too badly hurt, because the way he felt at the moment if Face continued to argue with him, Hannibal wasn’t sure how much self-control he had left to not lash back at him.

  
  



	5. The Trip to Bad Rock

“Go, B.A.!” Hannibal shouted from the back as he heard Kyle’s bullets whizzing past them. 

 

Kyle’s goons had soon found out that the guns shooting at them had no handlers and had taken their van and started to chase them down. Hannibal was holed up in the back with Face, while Murdock returned shots from the sunroof, at the van chasing them. 

 

“Kid, I need to wrap your ribs,” Hannibal said, helping Face take off his shirt. 

 

What he saw made him gasp, Face’s entire chest and abdomen were bruised. Hannibal’s blood boiled as he looked down and saw what those sleazeballs had done to his boy. The chest bruises were to be expected, but the bruises on the abdomen could mean internal bleeding. If Face lost enough blood he could go into shock. He just hoped it wasn’t coming from one of his organs. Hannibal probed at the swollen flesh to check for internal bleeding and Face couldn’t hold back a hiss of pain. 

 

“Sorry, Kid,” he said. Face’s abdomen felt tender and Hannibal knew what that meant, he was bleeding internally. Hannibal couldn’t do much for that and decided to pay attention to his ribs.

 

Hannibal pulled out a stethoscope from the kit and began to listen to Face’s breathing, to try to tell if any of the ribs had punctured a lung. Hannibal heard the steady swish sound of air going evenly in and out of the lungs, which indicated there was no puncture. 

 

After he placed the stethoscope in a few places, he said, “I don’t hear anything out of the normal.” 

 

The van then swerved, to dodge one of Kyle’s bullets. “Hannibal, where are we goin’, man?” B.A. asked.

 

“Get Kyle off of our trail and then take us to Maggie’s. Face needs a doctor, I can only do so much,” he replied.

 

Finally, Hannibal was done with the probing and took out a long piece of cloth. Before he could start wrapping up the ribs, the van sharply swerved and forced Hannibal and Face to grab onto the walls for support. 

 

Face gasped as the van sharply turned the other direction, throwing him from his usual seat. His shoulder crashed against the opposite wall, he felt a sickening crunch deep within his chest. His scapula had been forced into the fragile, cracked ribs, fully breaking several. Face gasped, unable to draw in breath.

 

Hannibal prayed that the impact wasn’t the final hit it would take to force one of Face’s ribs into a lung. He knew his prayers would be unanswered, as Face clutched his chest and confirmed, “Dad, I can’t breathe!” in a breathless voice. 

 

Hannibal leaned towards Face and steadied him, making sure he wouldn’t move and lodge the pierced rib deeper. Face was breathing sharply, as the pierced lining of the lung was allowing air to leaking out and into a cavity in his chest. The leaking air began to put pressure on the other lung, which caused less oxygen to get into his body. 

 

“Lieutenant, I need you to look at me. Everything is going to be okay. You need to calm your breathing and look at me,” he ordered. “Murdock, get Kyle off our trail, we don’t have much time!”

 

After a few more swerves, Murdock was able to successfully shoot out the tires of the chasing van and B.A. started heading to Maggie’s.

 

“Will Temp be okay?” Amanda asked worriedly from the front as she quivered in fear.

 

“He’ll be just fine,” Hannibal answered, trying to convince her just as much as himself. He focused his attention on Face and said, “I’m not going to wrap your ribs, I don’t want to hinder your ability to breathe. One of your lungs has deflated from the puncture wound. Just try to stay as still as possible. Take slow, deep breaths.”

 

“How much time do we have … before we get to Maggie’s?” Face asked between breathless gasps.

 

“B.A., what’s our ETA?”

 

“About fifteen minutes, Hannibal,” he replied.

 

“We’ll be there soon, Kid,” Hannibal reassured.

 

Before he could finish his sentence, Face was hit by another wave of pain. He tried to curl his legs up to his chest to stop the pain but was stopped by Hannibal. He calmly gripped Face’s shoulder and kept his own breathing steady, hoping his Lieutenant would naturally mimic him.

 

“B.A. we don’t have all day, I need a coffee,” Hannibal joked through a fake smile, which became a grimace as he looked at Face’s pain filled blue eyes.

 

“I’ll try to speed up, but I can’t go much faster or we might alert the cops.”

 

“Any increase will help,” Hannibal encouraged. 

 

According to Hannibal, the ride to Maggie’s seemed to take forever. Hannibal felt remorse as he knew it was basically his fault for refusing to listen to Face. If he had taken his concern seriously then they could’ve gotten the upper hand on Kyle sooner. Instead of watching his each other’s backs they had been arguing. He was the commanding officer, yet he hadn’t acted like one. Because he let himself get distracted, Kyle had captured them. He kicked himself for being caught unprepared. If it weren’t for him Face would’ve been safe, without a punctured lung for that matter. Now he was watching helplessly while Face struggled to keep his breathing under control.

 

The air leaking into Face’s chest cavity was making it harder for him to breathe and caused painful pressure to build up. He knew the air would have to be let out soon by an incision in his chest, which he was not looking forward to. As much as Face wanted to get the extra air out, he wished the way to do it was less painful. The pain was only made worse as the van hit a significant pothole. He moaned as the bump jostled his sore ribs. 

 

“Sorry, Faceman,” B.A. said as he looked back sympathetically at his friend.

 

“I’m fine,” Face managed to say, but it was obvious he was feeling the opposite.

 

The only thing Hannibal could do for Face was make a small incision in his chest to let the air out of the cavity. “Tem, I want to release the air now. It will only get worse,” Hannibal informed.

 

“Alright, just try to make it quick,” Face didn’t want to go through with it, but he knew he had to. He had seen it many times in ‘Nam. If the procedure hadn’t been done soon enough, the patient would eventually suffocate to death.

 

Hannibal peered into the first aid kit and grabbed some surgical gloves and put them on. He then reached for a bottle of alcohol and a small cloth. The Colonel then poured the alcohol onto the cloth and rubbed it thoroughly on his small knife to disinfect it. Hannibal grabbed a pen and took out the part where the ink was held to make a tube that he would insert into Face’s chest. Once he disinfected the tube with the alcohol, he rubbed the alcohol on Face’s chest with the cloth where he would make the incision. “Alright, Kid, are you ready?”

 

“Yeah,” Face held his breath.

 

“Murdock, I need you to help me with this,” Hannibal said.

 

“Sure, Colonel,” Murdock knew the drill. Not that it made him any less desensitized about it. He would have to hold Face down during the procedure so he didn’t hurt himself.

 

Hannibal held the knife in his hand and a small flashlight in the other. He had done this many times in ‘Nam under the worst conditions. Gunfire, bombs, with the VC approaching him, he’d done it all. So, the darkness of the van did little to diminish his confidence.

 

Murdock saw that Hannibal was ready to start and he put both of his hands on Face’s shoulders to hold him down. “I’m sorry, buddy.”

 

“It’s okay. Do what you have to do,” Face whispered weekly, feeling like he would begin to suffocate any second now.

 

“Tem, I’m going to make the incision. I want you to try to not move for me, okay,” Hannibal said. 

 

“Just … do it,” he rasped.

 

Murdock handed Face a rag and he immediately knew what it was for. Face would bite onto the rag to keep him from screaming. He thanked Murdock and paid attention to what his father was doing.

 

Hannibal held on to the knife tightly and began to make the incision. Face gasped and bit down hard on the cloth. Murdock had to put some force on his shoulders when he tried to buck against the pain. Hannibal saw some blood leaking out and pushed the knife further until he thought the incision was satisfactory. He pulled the knife out slowly as to not disturb the layers of skin. Hannibal saw more blood pour out and wiped it away with another cloth until he could safely insert the tube. He grabbed the tube with his gloved hands and pushed it into the hole. Everyone could hear the air hiss out and Face’s sigh of relief that followed.

 

“We’re done, Kid,” Hannibal said. “How are you feeling?” he looked imploringly into his son’s eyes for an answer, hoping Face could finally breathe right.

 

“Better,” Face said confidently with a slight smile as he took a deep breath and successfully inflated the lung that hadn’t collapsed.

 

The rest of the journey was somewhat calmer as Amanda held Face’s hand the rest of the way. Soon, they were able to spot a sign that said, ‘Welcome to Bad Rock’ and they came across Maggie’s clinic. B.A. had called Maggie from the van to tell her that they were coming so she rushed out of the clinic and ran to the van when it rolled up.


	6. Waiting

“How is Face?” Maggie asked B.A. as she rushed to the van with the tail of her lab coat flying behind her in the wind before the van came to a complete stop.

 

“Not too good. He’s in the back with Hannibal,” B.A. replied worriedly, not knowing whether Face would make it or not.

 

“Alright, Kid, I’m gonna help you stand up. Just try not to jostle your ribs too much,” Hannibal informed as he put his arm around Face’s shoulder and pulled him up. He knew if Face’s other lung was punctured by a rib it would all be over.

 

Face gasped at the sudden pain in his chest but started to walk as Hannibal directed him forward to the front of the van. Maggie had brought out a stretcher and Hannibal helped her lower Face onto the gurney.

 

“Face, I want to get you to pre-op now. The incision in your chest can only hold off the inevitable for so long,” Maggie said as she studied the pen in his chest, noticing that it was placed in the correct spot and she sighed in relief. She was surprised that Face had been able to stay conscious for as long as he had. She knew the surgery ahead would be complicated and would have to be done flawlessly. But she had a good feeling she could pull it off.

 

“Great,” Face said sarcastically with a forced smile.

 

“Cheer up, Facey, I’m sure there will be some hot nurses taking care of you,” Murdock encouraged, trying his best to bring Face’s hopes up. But that was hard to do as his feelings of anxiety kept resurfacing.

 

Face smiled at the thought as he was wheeled into the small hospital. Hannibal tried to follow Maggie into the operating room but she stopped him, “You can’t come in with us. I’m sorry, John,” she said sympathetically.

 

“But I need t-,” Hannibal started, wanting to be there for Face as he tried to get past her.

 

“I’m sorry it’s hospital policy. The operating room needs to be as sterile as possible,” she ushered him back into the waiting room where B.A. and Murdock were, trying to offer Amanda some comfort by telling her that Face would be okay. Hannibal heard the door slam in front of him as his son was whisked away to the operating room.

 

Hannibal slumped down in his chair, “Boy, I could kill for a cigar right now,” he said to himself. Although, he knew even if he did have a cigar Maggie would kill him for smoking it in her waiting room. He grabbed a magazine and pretended to read it. A few minutes later he gave up and threw the magazine down, resorting to pacing in the small room. Amanda noticed his tenseness and quietly excused herself to freshen up.

 

“Hannibal if you keep pacing like that you’re going to ruin Maggie’s floor,” Murdock said, trying to lighten the mood as his feet impulsively tapped to a certain rhythm on the floor. 

 

Hannibal stopped his movement and looked down, only to notice for the first time that his hands were stained with Face’s blood. He felt a lump in his throat that didn’t seem to want to go away as his breathing increased.

 

B.A. walked up and put a supportive hand on his commander’s shoulder, “Hey, man, you alright?” in a soft tone.

 

“Yeah, just give me a minute,” Hannibal walked into the bathroom and thoroughly washed off his hands. He then washed his face and noticed some small stubbles on his chin and circles around his eyes. He couldn’t remember the last time he looked this sleep deprived. The Colonel knew he had to put on a brave face for his team, but right now he felt too tired to do much of anything.

____________________________________________________________

 

Meanwhile, Face was getting prepped for surgery. 

“I’m sure John is going out of his mind in that waiting room,” Maggie said, trying to start a conversation, and also because she noticed a tenseness between the two of them when they came in.

 

“Oh, I’m sure he’s not too worried about me,” Face admitted with a sad smile.

 

“Why do you say that?” Maggie inquired.

 

“I pissed him off pretty badly yesterday,” he answered sadly as he recalled the things that were said yesterday in the apartment and then again when they were running from Kyle.

 

“He looked scared to death when I told him he couldn’t follow us to the operating room,” Maggie reasoned, hoping John and Face could resolve things soon.

 

“Hannibal isn’t scared of anything,” Face said, doubtful of her claim.

 

“I find that hard to believe. Everyone’s afraid of something. And no matter what happens, John’s always gonna be worried about you, it’s what fathers do,” Maggie confirmed with a slight grin.

 

“Thanks, Mags,” Face said sleepily as the anesthesia began to set in.

____________________________________________________________

“It’s been two hours now. Face should be done with the operation soon,” Murdock said optimistically, excited to see his best friend again as he fidgeted in anticipation. He pretended to pet Billy, telling him how they would see their friend soon.

 

“That’s good,” Hannibal replied, rubbing at his sleepy eyes, forcing himself to stay awake. He was tired of being confined to the waiting room and eager to see Face once again. It wouldn’t be long now. He had drunk five cups of coffee just to stay awake.

 

“Hannibal, don’t you think you’ve had enough of that stuff?” B.A. asked.

 

“Yeah, Colonel, you’re drinking coffee nearly as much as B.A. drinks his milk,” Murdock added, not wanting Hannibal to go on a caffeine crash if he drank too much.

 

“I think you’re right, men,” Hannibal replied as he set the cup down.

 

Maggie soon came in with a look of accomplishment on her face and everyone looked up, “The surgery was successful!” the team sighed in relief. “The thing is, I would appreciate it if only one of you visited him at a time for now to keep the room sterile. He’s sleeping right now but he should wake up soon.”

 

Murdock giddily told Billy what Maggie had told him, although, it was a bit more simplistic considering Billy was a dog, “It’s okay, boy, Facey will be a-okay!” 

 

“However, he’ll be drowsy for the next few days,” Maggie continued. “I went in and realigned his ribs along with closing the hole in his left lung, thus reflating it. I also drained the blood that had collected around his spleen and stopped the blood vessels from bleeding by sealing them.”

 

B.A. zoned out from the overload of medical information. He was just satisfied with hearing that Face was alive.

 

Hannibal tuned out everything and only focused on what the doctor was saying, feeling grateful for the fact that a wonderful doctor was in his life.  _ ‘Pretty, too,’  _ Hannibal thought. The reason that Face was alive rested solely on her. He was finally able to relax knowing that Face would be okay.

 

“His focus for the next few days should be to heal and with that he needs lots of rest. I recommend that he doesn’t take on too much with your missions until his ribs are fully healed so this doesn’t happen again. Face is strong, he’ll be okay.”

 

“Guys, do you mind if I go see Face first?” Hannibal asked.

 

“We don’t mind, do we, big guy,” Murdock said. He did want to see how his best buddy was doing but decided against it, at least for the moment. The Captain knew that what Face needed most right now was to work things out with Hannibal. So sacrificing time with his friend was well worth it.  

 

“Nah, Hannibal, go ahead,” B.A. confirmed after Murdock gave him a look which gave him the message. He also wanted to see how Face was doing but knew Hannibal and Face would have to make amends soon or things could get ugly. He had full trust in Maggie when she said Face would be okay, so he could hold off seeing him.

 

“Thanks,” Hannibal said gratefully as he followed Maggie to the room Face was resting in. 

Hannibal opened the door to find Face sleeping peacefully with a thin blanket covering him. He walked over and sat in the chair next to the bed. Hannibal observed the multiple things around the room, such as the heart monitor beeping and the steady drip of the IV on the other side of the bed. That’s when he also noticed that Face was shivering under the thin blanket, so he shed his jacket and laid it on Face’s body.

 

The Colonel stayed silent for a couple minutes until he saw Face shift under the covers and lift his eyes open. Face looked around for a couple seconds, not knowing where he was until realization hit him. Everything that had happened in the last twenty-four hours came back in a jolt. 

 

“Hiya, Kid!” Hannibal grinned, happy to see that Face would be okay. The pained expression the conman wore a few hours ago was completely gone.

 

“Hi, Dad,” Face greeted with a yawn. “What time is it?”

 

“0700 hours,” he replied casually.

 

“Did you get any sleep? You look exhausted,” Face asked, hoping his father had gotten at least some sleep while his operation went by.

 

“Gee, thanks, Kid. No, I did not. I had five cups of coffee in the last two hours though,” Hannibal chuckled.

 

“Wow, that can’t be healthy,” Face smiled. In fact, it was the first time they had shared a nice moment together since Kyle had captured them.

 

“Tem, can I ask you something?” Hannibal asked as he maneuvered himself in his chair to look directly at Face.

 

“Sure,” Face knew there was no avoiding this discussion now.

 

“What’s been going on with you lately? You’ve been acting differently,” Hannibal asked directly, ready to get to the bottom of this.

 

“Oh ... it’s really nothing,” Face lied as he avoided eye contact. He absolutely hated these conversations.

 

“Kid, don’t shut me out. I want to help you,” Hannibal tilted Face’s chin slightly up.

 

“Do you remember Leslie?” Face asked, ready to get everything off of his chest.

 

“Your old college girlfriend? Yeah,” Hannibal answered, wondering what she had to do with this.

 

“When I asked you to come with me to help her, you and the team did nothing but mock our relationship when I knew something was wrong,” he said sadly. “And when you refused to listen to me about Amanda, well,” Face paused as the memories recollected, “I guess that was the last straw.”

 

Hannibal remembered that day and looked back at his actions, what he believed was playful joking really was hurtful. They had joked about everything in their relationship, even the fraternity ring that Face gave Leslie which meant a great deal to him. When Face had asked him, “You mean to tell me, after all that I’ve done for the A-Team, You don’t think I’m important enough or my case isn’t good enough?” He had only replied with, “Well…” He remembered that he even made Tem hire The A-Team just to offer their services. And to top it off he put Amy in charge of the money! ‘ _ Face deserves so much better,’  _ Hannibal thought as he sighed in regret.

 

“Tem, I’m so sorry, you know I didn’t mean what I said,” Hannibal apologized, regretful of how he had acted with such disregard.

 

“Yeah, but it still hurt,” Face confessed as he thought back to how much he had cared about Leslie, and how much Amanda meant to him right now.

 

“I know. But I promise you it won’t happen again,” Hannibal sincerely affirmed. “You really do care about Amanda, don’t you?” 

 

“Thanks, that means a lot, and yes I do,” Face said with a smile.

 

“This whole adoption thing is new to me, too, Kid. I’m trying to get it right,” Hannibal grinned.

 

“I think you’re doing a good job, actually,” Face approved.

 

“Face, can I ask you why you didn’t tell me how bad your ribs were hurting?” Hannibal inquired, switching the conversation.

 

“You had a lot to worry about to begin with, I didn’t want to add to the list,” Face answered.

 

“Son, if I had known, we might’ve been able to prevent your lung from being punctured. You really could’ve died today if we didn’t have Maggie here,” Hannibal explained in a calm voice.

 

“I guess I didn’t think about it that way, I’m sorry,” Face said, realizing the fault in his actions.

 

“It’s alright, Kid. Hey, do you have one of those cigars?”

 

“I don’t think Maggie would like you smoking in here,” Face advised.

 

“I won’t tell her if you don’t,” Hannibal winked with a mischievous grin.

 

Face sighed in defeat and reached for a cigar from his pocket, until he realized he was wearing a hospital gown. “There’s one in my jacket,” Face said as he longfully looked at his clothes from across the room.

 

“Thanks, Kid! We still have to work out a plan to get revenge on Kyle,” Hannibal said.

 

“We already know what his place looks like. It should be-,”

 

“A piece of cake!” Hannibal interrupted with a twinkle in his eye.

 

“That’s not what I was going to say,” Face groaned.

 

They spent the rest of their time together figuring out a plan while Hannibal happily puffed on his cigar, glad things were back to normal again.


	7. The Perfect Plan

Hannibal and Face were unbeknownst to the fact that Murdock had his ear to the door for the entire time, waiting for the father and son to make up. He was eager to see Face again but knew he had to wait for Hannibal and Face to work things out if they could be effective as a team once more. When he heard Hannibal say, “We still have to work out a plan to get revenge on Kyle,” that’s when he barged boisterously through the door and exclaimed, “Hi, Facey! Billy and I missed you!”

 

“Murdock,” Hannibal scolded, “you know Maggie said that only one of us could be in Face’s room at a time.”

 

“But Maggie is on her rounds,” Murdock whined, “she’s gonna be busy for a few hours and she’ll never know,” he begged.

 

Hannibal looked over his shoulder and heard Face say, “Come on, Hannibal, it will be fine.” 

 

He could never say no to Murdock and Face at the same time and gave in, “Fine, but if Maggie finds out, this was never my idea,” and rolled his eyes in defeat. “As I was saying... before I was so  _ rudely  _ interrupted, that is,” Hannibal stopped as Murdock and Face slightly giggled and glared at them then continued, “We need a plan to stop Kyle from catching us off guard again.”

 

“Murdock! What are you doing in here, crazy fool? You know Maggie told us to stay out,” B.A. boomed. He had heard noises coming from Face’s room and came to check it out, only to see Murdock sitting on the side of the bed.

 

Hannibal sighed, he was on the jazz and needed to make a plan. But it seemed he would never get the chance because of the constant interruptions. “It’s fine B.A., I told Murdock he could come in here. You’re welcome to join us if you want, we were just about to come up with a plan.”

 

“Fine, I don’t see how it could hurt. How you doin’ Faceman?” B.A. caved in and sat in a chair on the other side of Face’s bed.

 

“My ribs hurt a bit but it’s manageable,” Face answered, wanting to get on with the plan.

 

“Alright, I would like to start our attack on Kyle’s compound five days from now with Face in charge of lookout and alerting us on the whole picture so we know what to expect,” Hannibal started. “Face, this will give you time to heal some prior to the attack. However, I don’t want you to be an active part of the ambush, considering your ribs are very sensitive right now. You will be half a klick away from the compound on a hill hiding out in B.A.’s van with a pair of binoculars and a walkie-talkie to keep in contact with us. Face, we also need something we can use as an attack vehicle.”

 

Face thought for a second and then the thought hit him. “I have an idea,” Face said with a smirk. He had never heard of a hearse being used as an attack vehicle, but it would be the perfect con because they would be stuck in the hospital for nearly a week. Finding a hearse would be easy enough. Maggie would just have to lie about someone dying to get one to come here. 

 

“Care to enlighten me, Lieutenant?” Hannibal asked, knowing the look of the jazz when he saw it.

 

“We can use a hearse,” Face suggested with the same glint in his eye that his father got when he was on the jazz.

 

“Oh, man, Face is on the jazz,” B.A. groaned. He could put up with Hannibal being on it, but both of them at the same time wasn’t something he’d like to deal with.

 

“Hear me out, B.A. We’re in a hospital, it would be easy for Maggie to get a hearse on short notice. And I’m sure you could fix it up to make it a sound attack vehicle,” Face reasoned.

 

“Brilliant!” Hannibal praised as he chomped on his cigar.

 

“Hannibal, with all the space in the back we could put in a small grenade launcher or somethin’ like that,” B.A. said, starting to see the perks of using Face’s suggestion.

 

“Hold onto that thought, B.A., we’ll definitely put that in the vehicle. Now, I was thinking about a front-door attack,” Hannibal grinned.

 

B.A. groaned at the thought, “Come on, Hannibal, this is Kyle we’re talkin’ ‘bout. He knows all of our strategies, he’s anticipatin’ a front-door plan. You’re crazier than the Faceman!”

 

“But he’s not anticipating a grenade shooting hearse,” Hannibal smiled manically. “The fact that we’re going to use an unconventional attack vehicle might distract them.”

 

“What do we do next Hannibal?” Murdock asked, getting excited at the thought of shooting grenades at Kyle’s men.

 

“This is where we come in. While we’re taking on Kyle’s guards Kyle will probably be hiding inside cowardly. He knows he’s wanted by the police and will do anything to evade capture. Your job is to cover me so I can get inside the compound to take him on one-on-one. B.A., Murdock, you will keep riding around in the hearse and take on the guards. But remember, Kyle’s mine,” Hannibal said the last sentence in a deathly serious tone while looking his men in the eyes. He wanted to get revenge on Kyle so badly for almost killing Tem. He needed to take on Kyle alone, make him feel the pain that Face had been forced to go through. They already knew that he had escaped from prison not a long while ago and would return him to his cell where he belonged, but not before beating him up a bit.

 

“Dad, do you think it’s the best idea taking on Kyle alone? The man is dangerous, and borderline sociopathic for that matter,” Face reasoned.

 

“I won’t have it any other way, Kid,” Hannibal answered gravely. No one would convince him otherwise, Face saw it in his eyes and decided to not take the matter any further. 

 

____________________________________________________________

 

Meanwhile, Kyle was holed up in his compound listening in on the A-Team’s plan. “Nice work planting that tracking device and recorder in Peck’s jacket, men. How did you manage to do that without them noticing, anyway?”

 

One guard stepped up and answered, “While we were beating up Peck I slipped it in his jacket pocket. It was completely unnoticeable,” he said proudly.

 

“Good work. Now we must prepare for Hannibal’s ‘surprise’ attack in five days. We know the Colonel is going inside alone, and I have just the thing to keep him trapped in there,” Kyle gestured towards several canisters of gas. “All we have to do now is make sure to keep the Lieutenant from alerting the team about it,” Kyle handed one of his men a bottle of chloroform. 

 

“That should keep him from talking,” one of the guards chuckled.

 

Kyle switched off the radio he was hearing the Team’s conversation on and walked out of the room with the guards following closely behind.


	8. Ambush

The five days had passed fairly quickly and before the team knew it, they were getting ready to attack Kyle’s lair with full force. B.A.’s job was to drive the hearse while Face would drive the van. They had all worked together to place their DIY grenade launcher in the back of the hearse. And after they did there was still room for a gunman in the back as well. That would be Murdock’s job.

 

“If you even get a speck on ma’ van, fool-,” B.A. threatened. He had not liked the idea of anyone driving his van but him.

 

“I know, B.A., you’re going to kill me. I swear, you’re so repetitive,” Face interrupted.

 

B.A. grabbed Face by his collar and pulled him up, “You tryin’ to make me mad sucka?”

 

Hannibal cut B.A. off before he could continue, “Cool it, Sergeant. Face knows what he’s doing,” he reprimanded.

 

Face sighed, glad the onslaught was over as B.A. backed off. “Thanks, Dad.”

 

Hannibal walked over to the van and put his hand on the place where the window and leaned down to look at Face in the driver’s seat, “No problem, Kid. Do you think you’re ready to go?”

 

“I’m ready whenever you are,” Face replied while re-positioning his awry collar.

 

“Good,” Hannibal approved. “We all need to be on our toes if we expect to stop Kyle.” Hannibal stopped and addressed everybody in the room, “Alright, men, let’s head out!”

 

Murdock was sitting on the front of the hearse. He looked up from the wrench he was fiddling with and addressed his Colonel, “Can Billy come with us? Pretty please, Hannibal! He’s a very valuable member of this team,” he chimed in.

 

Hannibal decided to humor Murdock this time and responded with a weary, “Sure, just make sure he doesn’t bark at B.A.”

 

“Thanks, Hannibal,” Murdock grinned.

 

“Crazy fool,” B.A. muttered to himself.

 

____________________________________________________________

 

Kyle had his men prepare for the ambush while he sat on a lawn chair and quietly observed, seldom speaking to give out instructions. His greatest weakness was having his men do his dirty work like most tyrants do. The only thing he would actually do in his plan is to shoot the gas cans to cause an explosion shortly before a ravaging fire when Hannibal had snuck into his compound. He greatly wished to see the look of utter hopelessness reach his eyes when he realized he was trapped amidst all the smoke and flames. Then he would make his timely escape, leaving the Colonel to perish in the inferno.

 

____________________________________________________________ 

 

When they were ready to go, Face heard Hannibal tell him from inside the hearse, “Be safe, Kid.” Face knew Hannibal was never one for being openly affectionate, and he had a very different way of showing people he cared. Face grinned as he deciphered the message.

 

Hannibal glanced at Face and smiled, knowing from the look of his face that he had gotten the message. 

 

Face started the ignition on the van and slowly pulled out of the driveway, seeing B.A.’s worried glare he went a little slower. He had learned a long time ago that it was best to keep the big guy on your side.  _ ‘Like I’m going to crash his van!’  _ Face thought sarcastically.

 

The rest of the team followed behind him as they drove into the woods, with Hannibal holding a map and stopping to give B.A. directions every few minutes. Murdock attempted to sing along with the radio, only to have B.A. forcefully turn it off. Murdock simply resorted to sulking quietly for the duration of the trip, occasionally stopping to play with his shoelaces or give Billy a few affectionate pats.

 

____________________________________________________________  

 

A half of a klick away from the compound more of Kyle’s goons were preparing to ambush the van and knock Face out with the chloroform Kyle had dutifully supplied. This would keep the Lieutenant from warning Hannibal on any abnormalities. Then, they would quietly execute him once Kyle had given them the all-clear. Kyle’s plans had changed from just taking the team to jail since they had escaped from him. Now, he wanted to eliminate them. But for now, they had to hide in the surrounding brush and wait patiently. 

 

____________________________________________________________

 

The Team soon arrived at the compound and Face waited at the spot where he was supposed to look-out while the rest of the Team continued down the hill. The conman took out his binoculars and walkie-talkie and looked for anything suspicious. He saw that the guards were in the process of rotating their shifts and it gave him hope that they could catch them off guard. The hearse picked up speed and turned into a fast bullet heading straight for its victims. The attack vehicle soon had everyone’s attention. That’s when Hannibal jumped from the speeding vehicle and ran to hide behind one of the walls. He could see guards on the other side rushing out to defend their fort. Hannibal took a few deep breaths and then ran into the compound unseen. 

 

Face heard Hannibal speak through the walkie-talkie, “What’s the report, Lieutenant?”

 

“Everything’s going as planned. Do you see Kyle?” Face asked.

 

“Not yet, I’ll report back when I find him. Over-out,” Hannibal replied.

 

Face laid down the walkie-talkie and continued to view his surroundings. His peripheral vision was completely cut off so he couldn’t see the goons sneaking up on him. They slowly inched closer to their unsuspecting victim, one of them holding the chloroform doused cloth in their hands. These men were trained to move silently through forest terrain, just like Face was. That was what made them just as deadly. One of them was crouched down next to the door while the other one was pressed to the side of the van. He was the one holding the cloth. The one who was crouched swiftly opened the door while the other shoved the cloth on Face’s nose and mouth. 

 

Face dropped the binoculars and tried to shove the hands away from his face, only able to make muffled protests. They pulled him out as he struggled against the men. He put up one hell of a fight as he kicked and pushed his attackers, but they were resilient. Face could feel himself drifting away as the edges of his vision blurred. He succumbed to the awaiting darkness and closed his eyes on the forest floor. Lying next to him was the pair of binoculars he had dropped.

 

____________________________________________________________

 

Hannibal continued to search through the compound until he realized there was one room he had forgotten, the room he and Face had been held in. He lurked near the door and then barged in with his revolver in hand. That’s where he saw Kyle. But he wasn’t the thing that frightened him, it was the numerous gas cans next to Kyle that sent chills down his spine. The Major had his gun pointed at the cans and a remote in the other hand. Hannibal wondered what it was for until he pressed the button and all the surrounding doors slammed shut. He hurriedly glanced for a way to escape and found none. 

 

“Here’s the plan, Colonel,” Kyle started. He was wearing the cockiest grin that made Hannibal want to shoot him right there, but he couldn’t or Kyle would blow up the whole place. “We’ve been anticipating your plan the entire time. When we were beating up your son, one of my guards sneaked a recording device in his jacket. Now, I’m afraid he’s sleeping right now. Chloroform tends to do that to people,” he snickered.

 

“If you hurt him I swear Kyl-,” Kyle interrupted him midway.

 

“You didn’t let me finish, Hannibal,” Kyle tisked. “I was just about to tell you the best part. It’s gonna end with a bang!” With that Kyle ran to one of the doors and opened it as he put a bullet through one of the canisters. 

 

Hannibal dived into a corner and covered his ears as he saw Kyle escape and lock the door again. The flames that erupted through the room just barely missed his jacket. He took a deep breath but only got smoke in his lungs. Hannibal coughed, putting his jacket sleeve against his nose so he could get some air in and shakily stood up. The Colonel ran to one of the doors and found that they were pure steel. He knew there was no way of busting out of the door. His only hope would be putting himself in a corner and trying to get as much air as he could and wait for help. That is if help would come in time.


	9. Kyle's Defeat

Face laid unconscious on the ground with the abandoned van ten feet away from him while Kyle’s men waited for their boss’s orders to come over the radio that it was okay to shoot him. There were two guards, each with a strong build and the same navy blue uniform on. The first guard had blonde hair while the second had brown hair. Their hair was cut short, like any haircut you’d receive at an ordinary Army hair stylist.

 

The first man got impatient and began to pace back and forth, trying to make a decision. He didn’t like the idea of waiting for Kyle’s orders because of the risk of the Lieutenant getting away. So, he finally decided to aim his gun at Face with intent to kill. But the second one forcefully pushed it away right before the trigger was pulled. He did not want to get in trouble with Kyle and be forced to endure his temper. The surprise push made the gun go off with a deafening bang, causing the two men to scream and jump back in fear. Their reaction would’ve been funny if not for the current situation. The bullet luckily didn’t hit Face. It, in fact, went in the opposite direction due to the shove and hit a nearby tree.

 

“What do you think you’re doing?” the second guard shouted, “Kyle specifically told us to wait for his permission to shoot Peck!” he pushed the first guard back by the shoulders, causing him to stumble.

 

“It’s not like he’ll know!” the guard argued back beginning to raise his fist and start a full-blown brawl. That idea vanished when Kyle appeared right behind them.

 

“Know _what_?” Kyle asked crossly as he walked up to the duo.

 

“Boss! What are you doing here?” The second man asked in surprise.

 

“I was able to sneak up here without Baracus and Murdock knowing. I took care of Smith, though,” Kyle answered in a wicked tone that made the guards feel lucky that they were not the Colonel.

 

The gunshot that was fired was the jolt that Face needed to come back to reality. He stifled a moan when he saw that Kyle and his men were standing a few feet in front of him. They didn’t notice him awaken because they were facing the other way. Face knew he had to get out of their sights quickly, but he had a funny feeling that his father was in trouble. So, he needed to wait and listen to find out what Kyle had done to him.

 

That’s when he heard a call for help come from Hannibal out of the walkie-talkie, “Face, I don’t know if you can hear me but I’m stuck! Kyle set fire to the compound. He’s trapped me in the room we were held in,” Hannibal stopped as a smoke-induced coughing jag hit him. He had holed himself up in a corner of the room and laid low to get as much oxygen as possible. “Kid, I need you to come now, the smoke is getting really thick. I don’t know if I can stay awake much longer.”

 

Face stood up, grabbed the walkie-talkie, and made a dash for the van. Kyle heard the rustling of leaves caused by Face’s movements and immediately turned around. He saw the conman trying to get away and tackled him, forcing him to the ground. Face gasped as he hit the damp ground of the forest with a harsh thud.

 

“Where do you think you’re going, Peck?” Kyle sneered, pushing his shoulders down on the damp ground.

 

“It’s Smith now!” Face yelled as he used all of his strength to shove Kyle off of him. He then ran to the van, barely avoiding the bullets that whooshed by him. Face started the ignition and pulled away from the men, heading straight to the compound. Face grabbed the walkie-talkie and said, “Dad, I’m here. I need you to go to the back of the room, I’m coming in.”

 

“What! Tem... don’t tell me you’re doing what I think you’re doing,” Hannibal said with excitement as he felt the jazz building up inside of him. His eyes were starting to water because of the smoke in the room getting in them.

 

“Just do it!” Face snapped as he heard bullets hit the van. The guards knew they couldn’t catch up with the van and just resorted to trying to put a bullet in one of the tires.

 

“Okay, Kid, I’m going,” Hannibal said in relief, knowing he would make it out alive. “Hey, Face, remember when you told me I need to use common sense more often than letting the jazz determine my next move?” he stopped and coughed a few times. “Well, I think you might be right, since I am the reason I’m stuck in this mess,” Hannibal chuckled. He soon started to feel his vision blurring around the edges because of the smoke he was inhaling and surrendered to the void of darkness before he could pick up the walkie-talkie again.

 

Face floored the gas pedal to gain enough speed to prepare to crash through the wall. Soon, he was seconds from hitting the compound. Face covered his head with his arms as the van collided with the wall and went into the room Hannibal was trapped in.

 

Face’s heart sunk as he saw Hannibal unconscious on the floor, _‘No! It can’t be too late!’_ Face thought. He opened the van door and jumped out. The conman coughed and put his hands out to help navigate through the dark, smoke-filled room. Face could feel ashes and dust entering his eyes and had to squint to find Hannibal. He reached his hand down to feel his commander’s neck and felt a strong pulse. Face smiled and pulled or more dragged Hannibal as best he could out of the room and laid him back on the ground outside. He also slowly backed the van out of the wall to keep it from the flames.

 

Murdock and B.A. ran up to them just as Hannibal was coughing himself awake. “Hannibal! What happened in there? Are you okay?” Murdock shouted in fear for his Colonel.

 

“Yeah, guys,” Hannibal stopped for a moment to catch his breath, “Face got me out just in time,” he said as he proudly clapped Face on the back. He was glad the reminder was over that he - Colonel John Smith, Green Beret, and tactical genius - was mortal.

 

“You wrecked ma’ van, fool!” B.A. yelled and pulled Face off the ground from where he was sitting next to Hannibal.

 

“Hey, big guy, if Face hadn’t crashed your van, we would’ve never gotten the distraction we needed to get the upper hand on Kyle’s goons,” Murdock gestured towards the depressed looking men secured in handcuffs a few feet away from them.

 

B.A. looked at Murdock and growled, causing him to back away and say, “On the other hand, Face did total your van.”

 

“Gee, thanks, Murdock. And, B.A., it’s not even totaled. All you need is to fix some dents and put a fresh coat of paint on it.” Face said, trying to get comfortable in B.A.’s grip.

 

“And get a new windshield,” Murdock added, glancing at the sad sight of the ragged looking van fifteen feet from the burning building.

 

Hannibal slowly got up, dusted himself off, and put his arm around B.A.’s shoulder, “Now, B.A., if Face here hadn’t crashed your van I would probably still be stuck in that fire.”

 

B.A. thought for a moment and then let go of his grip on Face’s jacket. “Thanks, B.A.,” Face said and straightened his jacket and tie in an exaggerated manner while Hannibal rolled his eyes. “Speaking of fire, how are we going to put this out?” Face asked, pointing towards the burning building.

 

The fire had died down a little as the fuel was beginning to run out. There was literally nothing in the room to feed the fire since Kyle hadn’t put anything in it so Hannibal and Face would have no tools to escape. But, it could still be a danger if it wasn’t completely put out.

 

“We’re going to call the fire department, they can take care of it much better than we can. Besides, we don’t have any water or other materials to put it out with,” Hannibal turned to address Murdock, “Captain, call the police and fire department for us. It should take them ten minutes to arrive since we’re in the middle of nowhere. That should be enough time for us to wrap things up.”

 

“Yes, sir,” Murdock responded and ran to the van to put in the call.

 

Hannibal looked over to the hand-cuffed men and was taken back when he saw that Douglas Kyle wasn’t included in the bunch. “Team, do you happen to know where Kyle is?”

 

Face looked behind him and saw Kyle and some of his men running towards them, holding AK-47’s no less, “Uh, Hannibal, look behind you.”

 

When Hannibal saw Kyle he immediately began to give out orders, “Murdock, B.A., give Face and me your weapons,” he said when he noticed that both of their guns had been left in the compound.

 

“What do we do?” Murdock asked, referring to B.A. and himself.

 

“Run to the hearse and get the grenade launcher ready. Face and I will cover you,” Hannibal instructed while father and son hid behind the van and started firing at Kyle and his goons so Murdock and B.A. could operate the grenade launcher. The shots fired forced the slimeballs to take cover behind the smoldering building since the only other thing to hide behind was a few thin trees. By this time the grenade launcher was ready to go and pointed at Kyle and his men.

 

“Come on, Kyle! You know even your men can’t take on this grenade launcher along with my team,” Hannibal reasoned, and walked out from behind the van along with Face to face him.

 

“Put down your weapons,” Kyle ordered, knowing deep down that Hannibal was right. He reluctantly let his rifle fall to the ground with a resounding thump.

 

“But boss-” one of the men protested, not wanting to give up his freedom because of a group of Army outlaws.

 

“I said put them down!” Kyle said, losing his temper because of his defeat.

 

“Listen to Kyle, kid,” Hannibal interjected. The man and his partner also dropped their weapons.

 

“This isn’t over, Smith,” Kyle snapped as B.A. walked away from the hearse and handcuffed them.

 

“You’re right, Kyle. We all know it isn’t over until I say…” he paused for dramatic effect, “I love it when a plan comes together!” Hannibal smirked and lit up a cigar with his lighter and placed it in his mouth.

 

Kyle scowled when B.A. put him and his men with the others. Hannibal walked up to him, “Kyle, we’re all well aware of your recent escape from jail. And I’m sure the press will have a hay day when you’re returned to prison. Your little cell is waiting for you,” he taunted and blew some smoke in Kyle’s face, causing him to recoil back and cough. “Now you know how it feels,” Hannibal said in a solemn tone and backed away.

 

“Go to hell, Smith,” Kyle spat, glaring daggers at him and fruitlessly fighting his bonds.

 

“You know what, Kyle, if I was anything like you, I’d have B.A. attack one of your men right now,” he said, remembering what Kyle had done to Face.

 

“What’s that supposed to mean!” he shouted in annoyance and tried to grab Hannibal, only to remember that he was tied down.

 

“I’ll let you think about that in your cell. We need to leave now so the police can pick up Dougie, here. Let’s head out, team!” Hannibal commanded and climbed into the passenger side of their beat-up van.

 

Kyle sighed in defeat and slouched back in his bonds, knowing his short-lived freedom would be soon over.

 

The van hastily sped off as the approaching sound of sirens reached their ears.


	10. Fini

Alright, everyone, it's the last chapter. I decided to keep it short and tie up the few loose ends. I'd like to send a thank you to my beta Bella119 for dealing with me these last two months, I know I can be a handful :) And if you want to check out more of my stories, I just posted my new A-Team/MacGyver crossover, An Unlikely Team.

I do not own the A-Team, all rights go to Stephen J. Cannell.

* * *

 

~ One week later ~

 

Face nervously looked at himself in the mirror, trying to see any ways he could critique his already spotless outfit. He impulsively ran a hand through his hair, then inwardly cursed at himself and adjusted his bangs again. The conman so desperately wanted a cigar, but he didn’t want to get the smell of smoke on him. Face then decided to focus his attention on his tie, _‘Is this the right shade?’_ he thought. “Dad!” he called. He doubted his father had any fashion sense but just wanted the assurance.

 

“Yeah, Tem,” Hannibal walked into the room to see Face testing all different types of cologne. He nearly gagged from all the different aromas mixed together. “What are you doing in here? It smells like a perfume shop,” Hannibal questioned.

 

“Nevermind that,” he said anxiously. “Does this tie go with my outfit?” Face asked, gazing at himself critically.

 

Hannibal walked closer to him and encouragingly straightened his tie, although it didn’t need straightening in the first place, and smiled, “You look fine, Kid.”

 

“Do you think so? Because I don’t know if it matches my jac-” Face began to ramble on, seeming to list all the ways Hannibal might be wrong.

 

Hannibal stopped him, not wanting to get absorbed in fashion talk, “I’m positive, now go on that date with Amanda you were talking about.” The Colonel gave Face’s shoulder a slight squeeze as he reluctantly walked out. He shook his head in amusement as he watched his son leave. Hannibal didn’t see Face pat his pocket to check if the small ring box was still in there before he left the house.

 

____________________________________________________________

 

“And that’s what happened,” Hannibal said as he explained to Maggie his conversation with Face earlier that evening. “It was just so weird, he looked so nervous. And it’s so unlike him, he’s usually so confident,” Hannibal said, trying to figure out what was the reason for Face’s uncharacteristic behavior.

 

Maggie thoughtfully sipped her tea, Hannibal had invited her to lunch as they had decided to stay in town for a little while longer. And she couldn’t be happier about it. “I think I know what’s going on,” Maggie began with a smile that continued to broaden as she realized probably why Face had acted so different. “He’s going to propose!” she said giddily. She began to giggle at the excitement.

 

Hannibal unceremoniously burst out laughing, “Face? Marriage? Ha! Mention the word commitment around the kid and he begins to quiver!” It took all of Hannibal’s willpower to calm his laughter.

 

“I wouldn’t put the idea past him. He really seems to like this Amanda girl,” Maggie reasoned.

 

“Who knows, you just might be right,” Hannibal said as he started to ponder over the idea.

 

____________________________________________________________

 

Face opened the restaurant door for Amanda like a true gentleman and pulled a chair out for her when the waiter seated them. This was one of the last very fancy restaurants B.A. hadn’t gotten them banned from, and he intended to keep it that way.

 

Once they had finished, they headed outside. The crisp Fall air blew through their hair as the moonlight reflected from the nearby large water fountain that acted as a centerpiece for the city. There were a few autumn leaves that flew past the couple and seemed to dance through the air.

 

Without hesitation, Face began to kneel on the ground and looked into Amanda’s eyes before he pulled out a glistening diamond ring.

 

_Fini_

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Please give me your thoughts in the comments. Thank you so much for reading my story! I just posted the first chapter of my A-Team/MacGyver crossover story called An Unlikely Team if you'd like to check it out.

 


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